Dragon Age II Character Building: Rouge Archer[Guide]

Building a successful character in Dragon Age 2 is about knowing which trees to build upon. While specialization skills are obviously important, Rogues also need to be aware of moves like Stealth, which can help them escape from a battle if need be.

Here’s a look at the first seven levels of a Rogue Archer, which is capped with the acquisition of the first sub-specialization tree. Take note of the way the points are spread and try to apply to your own characters.

Stat Distribution

A Rogue Archer’s other two important stats are Dexterity and Cunning. Dexterity improves attack power while Cunning increases the chance of a Critical Hit (in addition to making it possible to unlock more complex treasure chests).

Other stats that should be taken into account include Willpower and Constitution. While they aren’t as critical as Dexterity or Cunning, they shouldn’t be ignored. A good rule of thumb is to put a point in Dexterity and a point in Cunning while switching off between Willpower and Constitution.

Abilities

Level 2: Pinning Shot

Always begin by putting a point into the specialization you want to focus on. In this case, the Archer begins with the skill: Pinning Shot.
Pinning Shot is an all-around great move that can be used on both bosses and enemies. It can take off a large chunk of life and knock back an opponent, giving you a few extra seconds with which to fill them with arrows.

Level 3: Bursting Arrow

Your next point should be spent on an area attack. This will help you manage the large crowds of enemies that pop up throughout Dragon Age 2. Bursting Arrow is great against small packs of three or four enemies. While it does decent damage of its own, it also adds a small amount of fire damage; it recharges much more quickly than Hail of Arrows and can be your main area attack.

Level 4: Hail of Arrows

Bursting Arrow will give you access to the even more powerful Hail of Arrows for your next level. This attack can devastate an entire room full of enemies.
The only disadvantage of Hail of Arrows is that it has a long windup time. Ideally, your tank will already be engaged with a group of foes when you use this attack. This attack does a fair amount of damage over the course of a few seconds and causes additional bleeding damage.

Level 5: Stealth

Now it’s time to start on another tech tree. Use this opportunity to find a skill that fills hole in your current skill lineup. For us, we used Stealth.
Stealth is ideal due to its quick and easy accessibility. This move makes it possible to become invisible and easily evade a large group of enemies. As an archer, this is invaluable for those moments when your are surrounded and cannot escape. Use it to get to a corner or the high ground and rain down some destruction on your foes.

Level 6: Precision

It’s important to get a booster of some sort for your character, and now is the ideal time to do so. Archers can choose between Speed (shoot faster), Precision (better attack) or Power (higher knockback chance). The choice between Precision and Speed is a difficult one, but it’s tough to pass up the 20 Percent Attack and 10 Percent Critical increases.

Level 7: Mark of Death

Level 7 has your first Specialization Point. As a Rogue, spend your first sub-specialization point on Assassin and grab the “Mark of Death” ability. The Mark greatly adds to the damage a party member can do to an enemy, making it useful against bosses. It will also put you on the road toward obtaining the very power “Assassination” skill (instant death or heavy critical on one enemy), which is about the best skill a Rogue can obtain.

Character Progression

You will want to focus on building up the Assassin tree so that you can obtain “Assassination” as quickly as possible.

At Level 14, jump over to the Shadow Tree and grab the very useful “Pinpoint Precision,” which kicks the chance of a critical hit up 25 percent. Once you have Assassination, spend the rest of your time filling out the archer specialization tree to complete your character.